I hate dog hair. I hate it on my furniture, on my clothes, floating in the air, on top of my endtables, on my carpet. I hate it.

but we have a fabulous, well trained, well behaved dog that we found on craigs list and we've had him a couple of years. I can't imagine being without him, now. But he sheds. A lot. And I hate it.

Question(s) to those who also deal with this:

Is there a great secret tool out there somewhere that makes it easy to get dog hair off of couch pillows? the sweeper does an ok job; sticky rollers get expensive (takes a lot of those sticky sheets just to do the couch!) and I'm going thru too many rolls of box tape when I run out of the sticky roller sheets.

We're at the end of the big ice storm thing that's been going thru the midwest. He's starting to shed. my thought is to go get him shaved (he was a shaved dog when we got him .... not to-the-skin, just shorter hair..... but we've never taken him to be re-shaved since) but my confusion is (1) if he's shedding, then it must be time for him to have a lighter coat but (2) its still cold outside and is it too early to shave him? I don't want the poor thing to be cold when we put him out or take him for a walk. What do I go by? The outside temp or the fact that he's shedding his coat now anyway?

I WELCOME any and all advice, ideas and suggestions on how to deal with dog hair. You just can't know how I hate it. (It has to do with how I grew up but that's a whole 'nuther Dr. Phil show! )

a damp sponge! And brush him more often, he'll love it

he does love being brushed! never thought of the damp sponge ....!

Should you decide to shave him, get him a lil jacket/house coat type thing. And if you bundle up to go outside then put the jacket/sweater on him.

Check out the furminator a deshedding tool. It is awsome and really works.
www.furminator.com.

i second the furminator. It is amazing how much hair it pulls out of your dog. I love ours.

i used to have an awesome comb that removed dog hair from rugs and furniture. It was bought at one of stalls from the markets. Mine broke and i haven't been able to find another one

People also recommend a damp washing up glove. Just run it over the furniture and it should all lift

And a good vacuum cleaner. I bought an electrolux and was amazed how much hair that little puppy pulls out of the rugs

indydebi, we also use the Scotch Fur Fighter. We have a dark brown microfiber sofa and the fur fighter gets the pet hair off. It is a plastic handle that you attach the "gripper sheets" to. It works well in the seams of the cushions.

Debi, I have the same problems with our Black & White Border Collie mix. She sheds all day, every day.

Last year I paid to have her shaved $60. I loved the no hair all over for about 5 weeks. Then the shedding started all over. I went out an bought a clipper and now shave her myself. If you buy a clipper, get a really good one. Try to find one that you can have the blades sharpened.

I also got her a large sweater for cold days, but in the South we do not have as many cold days as most people.

As for the furniture, I also bought slip covers that I can throw in the wash and when we have company, I remove the covers so there is no hair.

The damp sponge does work well, but you still have to use it all the time. I have a shedder comb also, but the dog does not like it. I have also changed her diet, and added more oil to her diet.

When she is scared, she sheds twice as much. Last year she was nearly struck by lightning, so every storm makes her very anxious.

I am luvin' all of these suggestions. There are so many gadgets out there, that I could go broke trying to find the right one. Appreciate getting feedback from folks who have actually used these things!

We don't have a dog, but we do have cats. I used to use a damp washcloth and it worked okay but it never got it all. Cat hair laughs at lint brushes so that's out. I ran across a coupon for the Pledge fabric sweeper for pet hair so I got that. It works great! You can pop the brushes out a few times to empty it and extend the life. Our first one lasted about 3 months before it cracked and we couldn't reuse it anymore. Just make sure you use side-side motions when you use it and move it quickly.

It's in the grocery aisle near either the mops or the Swiffer stuff, usually.

3rd vote for Furminator - I have an indoor golden retriever that sheds like a yeti year-round (condo city living). I brush him with that at least once a week and I am constantly AMAZED at how much hair I get off of him. Grossed out, more like! But better on the brush then on the floor (or on me).

Dyson Animal vacuum is worth every penny. Floor, furniture, you name it, I use my Dyson on it. And it's true, it never looses suction.

Good Luck Indydebi!

Best thing to remove dog hair from furniture , clothing , the car . is a pair of rubber washing up gloves , cheap and very effective , take it from someone that has been breeding corgis for the last fifteen years. I have spent heaps on this device or that brush and the rubber glove is best.
or for a really quick fix from clothing that you are wearing is wrap your hand in some packing tape and use it to pick up the hair from your clothes. Quick effective and you can just throuw the tape with the hair on it away.

Debi, I had a shih-tzu. Boy would his hair grow, but I kept him shaved short most of the time, mainly because he did not like to be brushed. I'd get him shaved in the middle of winter. My mom bought him a sweater cause she felt bad for him, but he'd take it off during the day, so I guess he didn't think he needed it. He'd still go out side and run around with out a problem.

Brush him daily and wipe down the furniture with a damp cloth daily and you should be able to keep it under control.

I miss not having dog fur all over everything. We lost our 13 year old golden in November and are waiting til Spring to get a puppy. I am interested in the Furminator going to have to get one of those when we get another dog. We have mostly leather furniture so dog hair never stuck to it and we ran the vacuum at least once a day.

I don't have dogs, I have a cat... a white cat (used to have 2). She sheds like you can't believe (in fact no one can believe it). I have found the Scotch Fur Fighter or a Dyson work really well, but only one of these costs $500, I'll let you guess which one.

That said, the only way to keep it under control is to either shave your dog or attack the wayward fur every day. You should be able to trim your dog pretty short w/o causing him discomfort. We had a cocker growing up and keept her buzzed all year long.

My cat will sometimes blow her coat mid season, it's not a full shed but just a lightning of her coat, then she blows again in spring (the big one - arrggg!). However, I have recently changed her to a more holistic diet and her coat is completely changing. After 6 weeks she is shedding much less than she was before and it's even softer. Maybe putting your pup on a more holistic diet (fewer grains) will help a bit.

Herekittykitty is correct. Diet will play a part in your pet's shedding, also the products you use to bathe your pet. I first learned of the furminator from a friend that has two inside golden retrievers.

The furminator is not cheap but well worth it. The same friend has the Dyson vacuum cleaner and it works well, but is costly.

One thing with the Scotch Fur Fighter is that I have to be careful to only use it in one direction only. If I go back and forth I get tiny little yellow particles on our dark brown sofa.

I work at a very large veterinary teaching hospital.

THE BEST THING you can use on your dog is a "Slick n Easy". It's essentially what we use on shedding horses, and does a fantastic job. It's about 4 bucks, and will last you a good month or longer.

http://www.amazon.com/dp/B0000BUUWN/?tag=cakecentral-20

I agree with the Furminator owners. My yellow lab drops hair every time he takes a step. I use it on him once a week, in my yard, and it helps. It was about $50 but worth it. I do recommend doing it outside though because the hair that comes off the dog is unreal. I can fill a plastic grocery store bag with the hair I take off my yellow every week. And the funny thing is, my chocolate lab hardly sheds. That I do not understand.

As far as the shaving thing, my vet told me not to, he said it wont give me the results I was looking for. I never ended up doing but I would consider it again because my boy sheds like crazy! I mean piles of hair everyday. A friend with dogs recommended the IRobot vacuum for pet hair, its that robot vacuum that you can put on a timer to go off everyday and vacuum then go back to its charger. Its a special one that gathers the hair and chops it up or something. I can not afford to make the investment now but I will do it soon because I am vacuuming almost everyday to clean up after my boy.

I completely feel your pain. My "fur baby" Bailey is a golden retriever. I also have 2 cats and all of the pets are indoors! I feel like I watch fur tumbleweeds roll across my hardwood floor on a daily basis. I also vac EVERY day!

I liked the furminator, but anything that has a fine tooth to it and says it gets out the undercoat works much better IMHO than a wide toothed brush. I also have the dyson animal and the attachment that I love has the red velvety lining (like the lint brushes) and it works really well. I wonder if you could find a la carte attachments for your current vac that would have these strips on them? Good luck- I know it is CRAZY!!!

I'm having a mother-daughter shopping night with my 18 yr old tonight and we're going to be checking these things out! YOu can't know how much I appreciate all of the input!!

I think I had a "duh!" moment! I was confused and concerned about shaving him now, when it was so cold, but we've hit a heat wave (60 degrees!) after having 4" ice for weeks, and all of our ice/snow is now melted. Hmmmmm...... maybe mother nature was telling us something and getting our dog ready for the warmer weather by shedding!!!! DUH!!!

I do like the Slick and Easy, but since The Furminator came out, I like it better!! I think it is worth it's weight in gold!!! I raise horses, and dogs and have cats - the Furminator works on all of them. I bought the medium to start, but now I have 3!!!

The furminator is a miracle worker!

Okay talking about the Furminator sounds like something we will need. We are going to be getting a almost 7 week old golden retriever this weekend hopefully!!!! Should I just buy the regular size one or should I buy both the puppy and the adult one? What are the merits of the puppy one anyone know? I cant wait to get my little guy!

Buy the one for adult size unless you want to fork out $40 twice.

Update: I just inherited my daughter's Boston Terrier (she's moving). He sheds alot. When we got home, we gave him a bath and spent one hour on him with the furminator. There is no hair on my light green sofa and none in my daughter's bed two days later. My Chihuahua only needs it twice a month. I anticipate the Boston to need it at least once a week.

After getting over my week long head cold (medicine had me sleeping 18 hrs straight!), I finally got out and we went for the Furminator based on the number of votes here. Wow, that is amazing! I've just done a quick one on him outside and my daughter looked at all of the fur blowing in the yard saying, "Boy, your birds will have condo style nesting material!"

I have to study for a make up test (missed last week due to being sick) and head for school in about an hour but tomorrow he's getting the deluxe brushing/combing treatment!!!

Thanks to all for all of the great suggestions! I never would have even looked at this thing without your comments. The small size of it really fools ya about the super size job it can do!